The Approach

"Craig helped me create a breakthrough for myself that allowed me to envision a business, do everything I needed to do to get it up and running, and to love doing it, all within the space of three weeks."
-Transitioning entrepreneur

Have a look at the Venn diagram below. It represents my approach to coaching, and the path we'll take to get what you want: Having it all.

Most clients come to me asking "What should I do next?" They think they should get into action right away. If you look at the Venn diagram, the last item (lower right) is Next Steps.  I know you can go much farther, with greater ease, if you start with Self-Discovery. In a small business, the strengths of the entrepreneur, or 'linchpin person', are absolutely critical, and often taken for granted. It only makes sense to learn how to use those strengths to the fullest.

Then, you need to develop a Vision, or clear picture, of what you'll be achieving 3-5 years down the road. You need to identify a "star in the east" for you and your employees to follow. They'll look to you for this, and it's up to you to explain it, and help them focus on it.

If you don't have a vision, in 6-12 months you'll burn out. 40% of all small businesses are gone in one year, 80% in 5. You cannot act successfully in your business unless you know your own strengths clearly and you have a clear picture of where you're going.

Finally, it goes to Action/Mission - where you begin to act.  We'll look at facts, identify limiting beliefs which hold us back, overcome or detour around abstalces - and finally, the Next Steps!

1. Self-Discovery. We start with self-discovery, at the top of this little Venn diagram.

We're looking at our CEO.

What are his/her strengths? Wouldn't it make sense to design our business plan to take maximum advantage of your strengths? While we're at it, we could take some steps to manage the areas you're not as strong.

This is what self-discovery is all about. I promise that if you embark on this journey with me, you will discover good things that you didn't know about yourself. You already know the bad things.

Would you agree that most of us know our weaknesses much more clearly than our strengths? Can you remember when you came home to your parents with a report card and there were both good and bad grades? What did your parents want to talk with you about?

Exactly! 77% of parents think their primary job is to help their children when they fail.

So my approach begins with a process of self-examination which explores where you're really strong, and leverages those strengths to the maximum.

What about places where you really suck? We'll follow my 3-D program: deny, defer, delegate.

If you want your business to grow and be great, don't waste its time with lousy performance, whether it's your performance or someone else's. Your time or their time is too valuable.

My full-service coaching process spends time and effort discovering the greatest strengths of the CEO, and strategizing to maximize them. And, of course, steering the CEO away from the time-traps where s/he can spend great time and effort, with poor or little result.

2. Vision

A vision is a picture of what you want to accomplish. It's not usually measured in money. It's not usually about you. It's not usually about now. Here's one example:

In 1982, IBM has just introduced the IBM PC. Bill Gates' Microsoft (a picture shows a dozen young people in tie-dyed tee-shirts) has provided the operating system for IBM. It is called D.O.S. Later on it will be succeeded by Windows.
Bill's vision for his little company: "A computer on every desk!" In 1982, this idea was outrageous, absurd, impossible. Not even IBM believed it. We'll see if we can find a vision as outrageous for you.

3. Mission

Mission is the fulfillment of the Vision, the tasks that you want to accomplish. Again, it's usually not measured in money, about you, or now. Here was Bill Gates' mission: "Microsoft Software on every computer." Also outrageous. That wasn't the way it was then.

Bill Gates' accomplishments are many, and they made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. But consider the vision and mission that he set before his tie-dyed colleagues: "A computer on every desk, Microsoft software on every computer."

Most small businesses start without a really clear picture of what they want. There is no guarantee that you'll get what you want. But if you don't know what it is, there's an iron-clad guarantee that you'll never get it!  And I have some proprietary processes that will help you get a very clear picture of where you're golden, and where you need to focus.


Let's Get Started

If we work together, you will set three targets for yourself: self-knowledge, vision, and mission, and we'll lay the groundwork for extraordinary business success.

If you're reading this in August  2010, there's a hot-weather discount of 33% for all signups for the Platinum packages, 20% for the Gold..  By the way, I have a 12-month coaching program, complete with 12-month discounts, and 12-month benefits.

Read about the Results of some of my coaching programs >